Hari Budha Magar from Canterbury becomes world’s first double above-the-knee amputee to climb Denali in Alaska. Hari Budha Magar, from Canterbury, spent two weeks on the ascent of Denali in Alaska before reaching the summit at 20,310ft.
The 45-year-old Gurkha veteran and his support team set off from base camp on Monday the 17th of June, and got to the top at 7.30pm on Friday the 28th of June.
According to US National Park Service statistics, just over half of those who attempt Denali are successful. Due to the depth of soft snow on its lower slopes, Hari had to travel to a US training camp in March ahead of the expedition to learn how to snowshoe efficiently on his adapted prosthetics and build the other skills and teamwork for this climb.
At just 3 degrees south of the Arctic Circle, changeable pressure systems also led to unpredictable and cold weather, dropping to minus 26C. The team also had to cope with high winds at higher altitudes, which slowed their progress, delayed their final push for the summit and risked supplies running dangerously low. On one particularly technical section, they spent eight-and-a-half hours climbing.
